People with lived experience of mental health services, addiction treatment and adult social care have helped shape more than 100 projects, workstreams and service improvements across Priory over the past year, according to a newly published report.
The Lived Experience Annual Report 2025-26 highlights how Priory has embedded people with lived experience into governance, service design, quality improvement and strategic decision-making across its healthcare and adult care divisions.
Over the past year, Priory completed more than 100 pieces of divisional partnership working involving Lived Experience Partners, equating to approximately 1,925 hours of activity across committees, projects and improvement programmes.
The report marks a significant milestone in Priory's approach to co-production and partnership working, with 14 Divisional Lived Experience Partners now recruited in healthcare, alongside 17 Local Lived Experience Partners across 14 hospitals.
Since launching its Healthcare Lived Experience Partnership Working Strategy in 2025, followed by an Adult Care framework in 2026, the organisation has moved from largely localised involvement to a structured approach that places lived experience at the heart of decision-making.
Examples highlighted in the report include people with lived experience helping shape Priory's new information, advice and support service Navigate, contributing to patient safety and governance activity, supporting staff training, influencing service information and communications, and helping redesign services through a recovery-focused lens.
One highlighted in the report involved Blake, a resident at Priory Dunvegan – which provides residential support for 33 people who have a learning disability – and a member of Priory's Adult Care Lived Experience Partnership Group.
His story is being shared as Priory marks Learning Disability Week 2026 (15 to 21 June 2026).
As part of a Lived Experience Partner visit to another Priory service, Blake reviewed the home from the perspective of someone moving in as a new resident.
Drawing on his own experiences, he identified a range of practical improvements, including the development of a welcome pack for new residents, improvements to communal areas, clearer information about meals and activities, and environmental changes to help make the service feel more welcoming and homely.
Following the visit, Blake progressed to become a paid Regional Lived Experience Partner, supporting similar reviews across services and helping ensure the voices of people with lived experience continue to shape care environments and resident experiences.
Colin Quick, Chief Quality Officer, Chief Nurse and Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Priory, said: “The value of involving people with lived experience in shaping health and social care has been recognised for many years. What this report demonstrates is how that principle is becoming embedded in practice across Priory.
“The insight, expertise and perspective brought by people with lived experience helps us design better services, challenge assumptions and ensure that decisions remain grounded in what matters most to the people we support.”
Seph Mortimer, Lived Experience Partner Lead for Healthcare at Priory, said: “One of the biggest changes we've seen is a shift from asking people for their views to genuinely working in partnership with them. People with lived experience are helping shape everything from service design and staff training to quality improvement and strategic decision-making.
“The report shows that when organisations create meaningful opportunities for people to contribute, their insights can have a real impact on services and on the experiences of the people who use them. That's what co-production should look like in practice."
The report also outlines plans to further expand lived experience partnership working across the organisation, including developing lived experience career pathways, increasing involvement in governance and service development, and strengthening connections with wider national co-production networks.
Priory is the UK’s largest independent provider of mental health, addiction and working-age adult social care services, supporting more than 24,000 people annually through a network of 270 sites.